Losing Weight

BEFORE:

                                                                      AFTER:

So I am writing this post because I have had a lot of people ask me what I have done to lose a lot of weight, so here it is! In this before picture, it was 2 months after I had Emery and we were in Hawaii---pretty hard to be on a beach for a week with a body that had gone through a lot of weight gain. From May when Emery was born, until October, I really was kind of lost as to what I should do to get back in shape! It wasn't until some of my South Weber Friends approached me and said that they were going to do weight watchers and they were going to weigh in every Tuesday morning in front of each other and write it down from week to week on a laminated sheet! DONE! That is exactly what I needed...accountability!!!

STEP 1---ACCOUNTABILITY! If you are not accountable to someone besides yourself, it is so hard to be really motivated! I knew that every Tuesday morning, I was going to have to strip down to my garments :) and weigh in in front of those friends! That was what it took to get the ball rolling! The first week I lost 6 lbs! Every week from there I consistently lost weight and was so happy to write down my progress on my laminated sheet with my sharpie marker!

STEP2---Get a plan that works for you! My friends introduced me to the weight watchers program and for me, it worked! I needed to be accountable every day for what I ate and I would write down my points for every meal and snack. I had a number that I couldn't go over each day, so I was super strict in what I ate. I didn't actually join weight watchers. I got a food counter to see how many points each food was and a book and website that showed me how many points things were when I went out to eat.  In the past, I have done Body for life using the recipe book and that was great for me as well. So just find something out there that is not too outrageous and stick with it.

Step 3---FOOD, FOOD, FOOD! I can honestly say that for me, and my weight loss journey, 90% of the weight loss was attributed to the food that I ate. As crazy as it sounds, I really think that by watching what I ate 6 out of 7 days is what made the pounds shed off in the beginning. My average day of food would look like this:
Breakfast: Special K Cereal
Snack-Handful of raw almonds & water
Lunch-Bowl of Light Progresso soup
Snack-Special K Sour Cream & Onion Chips & water
Dinner-Grilled Chicken, side salad, Green beans, & a fruit
By eating like this Monday through Friday helped because I felt like I had done a great job eating at home, and then on the weekends, I would let lose a little bit if we went out to eat. When I mean let lose, I mean don't go crazy...I haven't had a hamburger since October. Like if we got to Cafe Rio, I always hold the cheese, beans and rice in my salad, and only dip my fork in the salad dressing as I eat. If we go to a steak house, then I get grilled chicken and maybe indulge in potatoes since I love potatoes. I haven't had bread for lunch or dinner for a long time unless it is Sunday dinner and my mom's delicious rolls! Through weight watchers, I learned which foods were low points, and which were high points and its not worth it for me to use 2 points on 1 slice of bread!  SO---food was a major contributor in this weight loss!!!!

Step 4---Working out! I have worked out here and there since I got married, but honestly, I never enjoyed it. I ran the Utah Valley Half Marathon 2 years ago and hated every step of the way. When I crossed the finish line, I told myself I would NEVER EVER EVER run another race EVER!!! Well, I am eating those words because I am running in 2 half marathons this year!!! The last few months I have found my work out schedule and I love it...Monday/Wednesday/Friday 6:30-7:30 Bootcamp with 10 ladies in South Weber at the rec center. For that 1 hour, I work out as hard as I can. I have started sweating and I have never been a big sweater--always turned red. Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday 5:30-7:00 Running Days. I have another group of friends that I have been running with and lets just say they push me. They are good runners and they know what they are doing so I have really learned a lot from them! It is SO SO hard to get up in the morning, but when I get home and get ready for the day before the kids are up, it feels so good to know that for the rest of my day, I do not have to worry about fitting my work out in! I had something that I like to call Runners anxiety the night before I would meet the ladies to run. I could not go to sleep because I would be so nervous that my alarm clock wouldn't go off, or that I would be too slow for them, or that I would have to stop. WOW-that was awful because I was getting less then 3 hours of sleep. This is the first week that I have gotten over that. I have gone to bed early now on the nights before a run. Saturday's are our big runs. I did 9 miles last Saturday, and I will do 10 miles this Saturday. To say that I am a RUNNER now is something that I NEVER thought I would say. I am still trying to really enjoy it, but the point is I don't hate it! If I am running by myself, I love running to awesome music on the ipod. If I am running with a group, I benefit from their conversations because I still cannot talk while running yet! Middle of April, Regan and I are running the Salt Lake City Half Marathon and then middle of June, I will be running the Utah Valley Half Marathon!!!

There you have it folks! This is what worked for me! I have lost 50 lbs since my August. 10 lbs were just on my own before I started to be serious with my friends, and 40 of it was when I was totally in it and serious!!!
You can do it! I will tell you that I am 31 and I feel better now than I have ever felt in my life and I have had 4 kids!!!!!!!